Butterfinger, zagnut, clark, chick-o-stick, fifth avenue, it's still peanut butter crisp to me.
So went (with different lyrics) an old Billy Joel song (but his as about rock & roll, not candy);
Ah..fifth avenue, fifth avenue (apoligies for two song quotes in a row this from a Judy Garland/Irving Berlin song, and
the wrong time of year to quote it!:)
Any, the use of crispy peanut butter, with either coconut or chocolate, is another USA candy combo that goes back to way over a century.
The first use of peanut butter, ground to a neat nice crisp and neatle salted, went to D.L.Clark's
1917 Clark Bar, coated with chocolate and with the peanut butter (Necco makes these, these days.)
.
(1918?)
It,too, went over so big that it stayhed a major staple to this day, but a butter bar, to many, a butterfinger,
then took over and is THE advertised one (do ya see Bart Simpson do a Clark or 5th Avenue ad? There ya go.)
Introduced by Curtiss Candy, also known for Baby Ruth, the Butterfinger in 1924 became the third, final and most known of this type,
now made by Nestle, which soon garnered many commercials (in 1969 there was even one with an elephant in animation, the only
cartoon character in these otherwise live ads, who'd pop up like any other character, even out of a motorcycle sidecar, and around this time
others of this series of ads were done). Since 1990 when he got his own series Bart Simpson's been the celeb pitchman-"Nobody better lay a finger.."
1937:
After this Ludens (then owned b y HERSHEY..) came out with 5th Avenue, a somewhat similiar bar (when something is big, strike while the candy's hot) which was a bit more crispier in its current (coincidence alert) Hershey-made form.
Originally a la Peter Paul/Cadbury/Hershey Almond Joy, two bars with an almond on each, with two older ladies lovingly installing such. When THEY retired, so did the almonds.
1938:
Which chocolate-coated success with these, coconut came next.
Clark, who'd started it all in 1916-17 with their title bar, introduced Zagnut, like the others but with coconut.
This is now made by Hershey..
First appeared sometime in 1930s
It, too, would catch on, especially with no chocolate or other metlable properties.
Chick-o-Stick soon appeared much later in 1945-1950.
The Atkinson's Co.of Lufkin Texas this time was the c reative party, but made this Zagnut variaiton a rod, fishing pole like thing so they
couldn't get sued (sadly their website, Atkinsons, INSISTS ZAGNUT stole THEIR candy.) All due respect intended, of course from this long time
eater of these. Their candy had a chicken on theirs wrapper (looked like a chicken stick). The Texas locale's gotta be as it was a locl kind of thing
to cakk them chicken sticks, and it seems that right after Zagnut that in the thirties there were similiar bars like these.
Unlike Zagnut Chick-O-Sticks are regularly avialbe in gas stations, liquor stores, retro type candy stores, five and ten, dollar, drug,etc.
Their current slogan, if not always used, is "Break me! Share me!" After all, these can comne in big and all sizes.
(As fellow candy historian and cult-personality CYBELE MAY noted a long time ago on her blog, CANDYBLOG, these are even safe for vegans - even
WITH the poultry name. AND fat free.)
Of these only Chick O Stick is still made by the original.
Chick O sticks can be easily broken and eaten.
Just don't let someone by the drug store or dollar store where you are see you and think that
you are eating funny colored tree branches.
